A known vehicle door handle for opening and closing a vehicle door has been disclosed, for example, in JP2004-360273A and JP2003-505626A. A door handle has been known that includes a handle main body and a handle cover, wherein the handle cover is assembled onto the handle main body. The vehicle door handle described in JP2004-360273A is finished by assembling a handle cover onto a handle main body, and by tightening them with a tightening member such as a screw. The vehicle door handle described in JP2003-505626A includes a handle main body formed with a recessed portion (a groove), and a handle cover formed with a protruding portion that is engageable with the recessed portion. By engaging the protruding portion with the recessed portion, the handle cover can be assembled onto the handle main body.
However, according to the vehicle door handle described in JP2004-360273, due to its structure where the tightening takes place at two locations, much time and effort are required for an assembly operation thereof. The vehicle door handle described in JP2003-505626 has a structure whereby the handle cover is engaged with the handle main body, and thus, at first glance, an assembly operation appears to be easier than that in a case where the tightening is performed as in JP2004-360273. However, in order to engage the handle cover with the handle main body, it is necessary to deform the handle cover. At such a time, if the handle cover is deformed in a manner where an excessive force applied thereto, the handle cover may be broken. To prevent this, much care is required in the course of an assembly operation. As a result, much time and effort are still required for an assembly operation, as in the case of the vehicle door handle described in JP2004-360273.
Further, in recent years, according to the vehicle doors, keyless entry system has become increasingly popular. In a vehicle equipped with a keyless entry system, electronic parts for the keyless entry system are accommodated in the vehicle door handle. Thus, if a problem occurs in these electronic parts, the vehicle door handle needs to be detached from the door, the handle cover is removed from the handle main body, and the electronic part is replaced with a new part. Therefore, it is preferable for the vehicle door handle to have a structure in which an assembly operation (including removal) can be conducted easily, taking into due consideration not only the stage of manufacturing but also times when maintenance is required.
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and a need thus exists to provide a vehicle door handle whereby it becomes possible to assemble a handle main body and a handle cover easily so as to achieve increased ease of assembly.